Velites

The Velites were a class of the early Roman Republic's army, consisting of light infantry and skirmishers armed with light javelins and gladii short swords. The youngest and poorest soldiers in the Roman legion, velites could not afford much equipment, and they wore wolf skins to distinguish them from the heavier legionaries. An early Roman legion usually contained 1,000 velites, as they could be used as a screening force as well as being used against war chariots and elephants. After Gaius Marius' reforms, velites were done away with, and non-Roman auxilia became the new skirmishers of the Roman army.